{Customer Feature} FIretruck Party!

Today I wanted to share a cute firetruck party one of my customer's put together for her son, Cole, using the Amanda's Parties TO GO Firetruck party printables. Amanda did a fabulous job decorating the house and the dessert table, too. Just take a look:

I love how Amanda used streamers as a backdrop -
a simple and inexpensive way to add flair and color to any party.

For her cupcake stand, Amanda covered rectangular boxes with wrapping paper and added a little ribbon, too. Then she used the polka dot cupcake wraps and cute personalized cupcake toppers as a focal point of the dessert table.

Amanda used the different papers that come with the Firetruck party printables collection to wrap candy jars and add pops of color to the table.

Adorable fire hydrant cup favors with personalized tags are the perfect take home treat for the kids.

Cole is one lucky boy - mom even got Elmo to come by to say "Happy Birthday!" Thanks so much, Amanda, for sharing Cole's party with us!

Be sure to check out all of the FIRETRUCK PRINTABLES in my shop. From invitations and thank you notes to everything you'll need to decorate the house and party table, printables are a simple and affordable way to throw a stress-free, personalized party for your little one.

SNEAK PEEK - Cupcake Cutie Collection!

I've been working on a super cute custom order for the last few days and was able to get a few photos taken yesterday of the new designs. My client wanted bright, bright hot pink and yellow for her little girl's first birthday celebration. How happy is that? Love those colors!! Bold and spunky!

Here's a quick sneak peek......

Don't you love the cupcake wraps? I hope to post more to show you tomorrow and have them in my shop soon so stay tuned!

I hope you all are finishing up your last days of school. Ours was yesterday and I have three VERY, VERY, uhhhh.... VERY Happy Kids!!! Off to the pool we go!

FREE Printables - Teacher Tags and More!

Just in case you've still got a little time before school is out, I thought I'd share a cute set of FREEBIE Teacher Tags that I found from Angela over at Anything But Perfect. These are perfect for those of you "in a bind" right at the last minute without a sweet gift for those amazing teachers who take care of our children each day.... and by "those of you," I really mean.... those of you like me! I am the worst at waiting until the last minute, so I figure there are probably a few of you out there, too.

Not to worry though! Angela gives you a few different options.

Option One is an adorable set of FREEBIE gift flags that can be used around candy sticks and given in a cute glass jar as Angela did with this chalkboard "A+" sticker. I just love this idea!! Angela used some candy sticks that she found in the Walmart wedding aisle and wrapped them with her fun"You're the Apple of my eye!" flags.

Grab these great teacher gift flags HERE.

Option Two is a 3" oversized tag to attach to just about anything.... some muffins, banana bread, a book, a gift card, etc. And just in case you don't have a 3" circle punch, no problem. Just cut them out carefully with scissors and it will work just fine. Angela attached her tag to a a To-Go Tumbler with a Starbucks gift card inside - so smart!!

Grab the FREE Teacher gift tags HERE.

And Option Three is a quick and easy FREE Candy Bar Wrap. In pink for girl teachers and blue for boy teachers.... how cute! This fits a 1.55 oz regular size candy bar which can be found just about anywhere.

And Angela makes gift giving so simple with the personalization space on the back, too.

Grab the FREE Candy Bar Wraps HERE.

And that's not all! Angela also has some FREE CALENDARS, perfect for keeping track of your summertime plans. You can download the June page HERE.

The JULY CALENDAR HERE.

And the AUGUST CALENDAR HERE.

Aren't these fantastic? Be sure to visit Angela's website to find even more cute and FREE printables! Thanks, Angela!

FREE Summer Bubble Wraps and More!

With only a couple of days left to the school year, I've been working on some little goody baskets for the kids in my son's class. True to form, here I am at the last minute trying to finish up!

I used the FREE SUMMER PRINTABLES that I designed last week to cover a bottle of bubbles and added some tags to a pinwheel and a little bag of trinkets, too. And I had some cute bubble gum machines that I had left over from a party I added in there, too. I wish Walmart would carry those all the time and not just as special holiday items -- aren't they cute? I think the kids will love their little summer send-offs.

I hope you all are downloading and don't forget to click the Facebook "Like" button if you grab a set. 

It's the best way to find out what going on at Amanda's Parties TO GO

.... new printables... special offers.... and best of all -- the FREE stuff!

I hope you all had a FABULOUS and restful weekend.... it won't be long before all the little ones are home full-time and we all definitely need a bit of extra rest!

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I sometimes link to:  Lil Luna, Craftomaniac, Tater Tots and Jello, Skip to my Lou,  Blue Cricket Design, Someday Crafts, Somewhat Simple, Tidy Mom, Romantic Home, Shabby Nest,  Finding Fabulous, The Girl Creative, Be Different Act Normal,Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  C.R.A.F.T., Tea Rose Home,  Beyond the Picket Fence, Mad in Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts,  Whipperberry, Sassy Sites, Between Naps on the Porch

DIY Fabric Letters

What a great DIY project this is!

I love using monograms and large initials for decorating and for parties. Everyone seems to love seeing their "special letter" as a focal point, although sometimes it's difficult to find "your" specific letter. The stores always seem to be sold out of the very one you need. Or sometimes I want something really large, especially for a great party feature or centerpiece, but those large letters are not only hard to find, they are expensive, too.

That's where this little project comes in.

When I came across this cute idea for fabric letters from Lindsay over at Artsy Fartsy Mama, I knew I wanted to share it with all of you. Make them as large or as small as you wish.... hang them on the wall.... use them for party table backdrops or even banners.... give your toddler a new tactile play toy.... the possibilities are numerous. And the part that I like best is the fabric -- I'm kind of a fabric junkie anyway. No painting.... no decoupaging.... just pick out a few of your favorite fabrics and wah-lah! You've got a perfectly coordinated bedroom or party decoration.

Here's what you will need:

Fabric for front and back of letters
Quilt batting
Sewing machine
Scissors, pin, etc.
Letter templates

And Lindsay is sweet enough to share a step-by-step tutorial for all of us newbies, too.

Cute and textured, too. I love these!

Lindsay was inspired to make letters to decorate her daughter's bedroom after seeing these adorable alphabet toy creations from Oh So Happy Together. If you take a look there, she's even got some great templates for the letters. Here's the download link for the uppercase ones.

How much fun is that?

I just have to say how glad I am that it's Friday...... our last Friday of the school year!

Only two more school days left.... yippee!!

Circle Punch Table Runner

What do you get when you cross this 2" circle punch from Marvy Uchida.....

With some scrapbook paper?

How about this great idea for a party table runner! Wendy over at Wendy in Florida has a super idea for an easy and inexpensive but adorable party decoration. How great for an art party or rainbow party or even Sesame Street! And better yet, you could fill the whole room with circle garlands or streamers hanging from fishing line.... make placemats for the kids.... or maybe even have a circle crafting station where the kids take the circles and glue them together to make some cute and creative artwork to take home with them.

Oh, how I love easy!!

Wendy was inspired by this gorgeous table setting as seen on Say Yes to Hobeken. How amazing is this display! It just goes to show that mixing the inexpensive and ordinary with a touch of "fancy" can make for a stunning showcase.

I hope this little project inspires you all to make something awesome from every day items around the house. Happy Wednesday!

{FREEBIE} Summer Time Celebrations Printable

I've got a FREEBIE today for Y'all (that's how we say it here it the South).

How about some cute cupcake toppers, tags and bubble wraps (or napkin wraps) just in time for those END-OF-SCHOOL PARTIES!

Make a set of cupcake toppers to take a celebratory treat to your child's class or create some quick and easy favors for all of your their friends with adorable bubble bottle wraps.

If you grab the free printable set, I would love for you to become a FAN of Amanda's Parties TO GO on Facebook by clicking the "Like" button on my sidebar above. It's super quick and the easiest way to see all my new posts and Freebie printables. If you're a regular blog reader, becoming a Follower of my blog is a terrific way to stay in touch, too. Thank you all for your support - it's so much fun to wake up every day to new readers and comments!

Are you ready to grab your set? Click the

DOWNLOAD LINK HERE

Take some photos and show me what you've done with them - I'd love to see!

ENJOY EVERYONE!

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I sometimes link to:  Lil Luna, Craftomaniac, Tater Tots and Jello, Skip to my Lou,  Blue Cricket Design, Someday Crafts, Somewhat Simple, Tidy Mom, Romantic Home, Shabby Nest,  Finding Fabulous, The Girl Creative, Be Different Act Normal,Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  C.R.A.F.T., Tea Rose Home,  Beyond the Picket Fence, Mad in Crafts, Sugar Bee Crafts,  Whipperberry, Sassy Sites, Between Naps on the Porch

Graduation Party Food Ideas

Wow! Can you believe the school year is almost done? What they say must be true.... time flies as you get older! Didn't we just sign up for PTA and buy new lunch boxes??

With graduation so near, I thought I share a few cute graduation food ideas with you today that I've seen around the internet. You could use these for kindergarten graduations to high school and college graduations, and best of all, they are super simple to implement. Simple is really, really good this time of year!

Aren't these amazing? Fondant graduation cap cupcakes from the talented Glory of Glorious Treats with a fabulous tutorial to show us how to do it ourselves.




Those cupcakes would be perfect on a dessert table like this one from Paula of Frog Prince Paperie as seen on Kara's Party Ideas .... isn't this the cutest?




And my sweet friend over at Bird Crafts has some adorable free graduation flags for table centerpieces. How easy is that? Grab your download here.



And we can't forget about the amazing Bakerella and her fun graduation cap pops.



She shows us how using these great little store-bought bites. This one is so easy ANYONE can do it!

No Fuss Fabulous has a twist on the same idea and makes cupcake toppers

with the graduation cap candies.

And if you don't really care to make some treats yourself, you can always order something perfect from the Diva Entertains like these chocolate graduation suckers.

And if you've got sweets overload and want some "real food," how about these cheese and cold cuts wrapped into a diploma from Family Fun.

So many cute ideas! I hope you are all inspired to make some classroom treats or throw a little congratulatory shindig for your favorite graduate.

{Customer} Pirate Party

I received an email the other day from one of my pirate party customers who is also a talented photographer. Nicole of Barrett Photography sent a link to these wonderful photos of her son Jaden's 5th birthday party and today I'm going to share them with you.

From the eye patches to the swords to the sashes and bandanas, these kids not only looked the part but had a blast, too. I mean, really, what's more fun than having permission to use a sword to fight your friends!

Nicole used my Pirate Party cupcake toppers to set a swashbuckling mood. She decorated her house and the tables using lots of pirate-y items that her mom made with vinyl and also some pirate party paper products that she found at Target..... gotta love Target!
The centerpiece pirate ship was a birthday gift to Jaden and worked perfectly on the kids' dining table.

















What a fun pirate crew!




As a game at the party, Nicole made clues that she hid all over the house which eventually led to this great pirate chest filled with treasure for the kids.



Jaden and his sister posing for a piratey photo.





Sword fights and tattoos are a must at any pirate party!

Nicole says, "It was such a fun party, and Jaden felt so special."

That's what it's all about.... making the birthday boy feel special, so I think all of Nicole's work paid off. Great job! If you'd like to find out more about Jaden's party, be sure to visit Nicole here. And if you need any pirate party printables to host your own high seas adventure, be sure to check out all of my pirate party items here.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!